Both letters were made available before the Sri Lankan presidents arrival for official discussions. The RSF suggests that the aim of her visit was to raise the question of European economic aid to Sri Lanka as the country's budget has a big deficit. The RSF letter, signed by Secretary General Robert Menard, also requests Mr. Prodi to raise the matter of protecting the freedom of the press and the journalists of the island nation.

"Soon after his assassination, the President personally condemned that act and promised that investigations will be launched by the security services. Since then no inquiry has been initiated. It seems important for us that the conditions for this aid are improvement in the situation of human rights and notably a real effort by the government in Colombo to put an end to the impunity for the assassins of Maylvaganam Nimalarajan.

Also, we ask you to intervene with the President so that a thorough investigation be ordered without any delay in identifying the assassins of the journalist. We equally demand you to remind the President that certain emergency laws in the country are in contradiction with the international obligations of Sri Lanka with regard to Human Rights" the letter also states. Published: Tue Mar 20 12:33:32 EST 2001

The Tamil men and women were rounded up in the areas of Biyagama, Kiribathgoda and Peliyagoda. They are all currently being detained at the Peliyagoda police station for further questioning. Published: Mon Mar 19 21:13:29 EST 2001

The Sri Lanka Navy admitted last week that it had by accident killed one Indian fisherman and wounded two when the trawler fishing boat they were in had allegedly strayed into Lanka's northern territorial waters. Published: Mon Mar 19 21:13:28 EST 2001

Of the 24 journalists killed for their work in 2000, at least 16 were murdered. BBC journalist Mylvaganam Nimalarajan is one of them. "On the night of October 19, a group of unidentified gunmen shot and killed Mylvaganam Nimalarajan, a journalist based in the northern Jaffna peninsula who reported for various news organizations, including the BBC's Tamil- and Sinhala-language services. Nimalarajan was one of the few sources of independent news from Jaffna, a strife-torn area where journalists have rarely been allowed free access. CPJ sources suspected that Nimalarajan's reporting on vote-rigging and intimidation during the recent parliamentary elections in Jaffna led to his murder" the report says.

"Outrageous abuses of the media continue, as governments achieve their repressive goals with more sophisticated techniques of harassment," said CPJ executive director Ann Cooper. The 500 page CPJ report also carries the following observations on Sri Lanka.

"President Kumaratunga started the year with a three-hour marathon interview on state television in which she launched a bitter, intensely personal diatribe at the private media. Among those singled out for special condemnation were Victor Ivan, editor of the Sinhala-language tabloid Ravaya, and Lasantha Wickrematunga, editor of the English-language paper The Sunday Leader."

The report also mentions state media’s tactics to accuse journalists of "maintaining secret connections with the LTTE." They were P.Seevagan, who reports for the BBC's Tamil service, Roy Dinesh, defence correspondent for The Sunday Leader; Saman Wagaarachchi, editor of the Irida Peramuna; and D. Sivaram (alias "Taraki"), an outspoken free-lance columnist. Bomb explosion at the home of Nellai Nadesan, a Batticaloa-based columnist for Virakesari, delays in prosecution of two air force officers who were indicted on charges of unlawful entry, criminal trespass, and criminal intimidation to Iqbal Athas, and dismissal by the court of Appeal an appliction by Sunday Times editor Sinha Ratnatunga, who in 1997 was sentenced to 18 months in prison for criminal defamation are recorded cases of repression by the CPJ. Published: Mon Mar 19 15:08:34 EST 2001